Never let it be said that President Trump isn't up for talking to other world leaders. During the event wherein President Trump hosted Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the White House, the president made another surprising announcement: A meeting in "a couple of weeks" in South Korea, with China's President Xi Jinping. The stock markets, following the announcement, reacted with seeming enthusiasm.
The stock market is bouncing today as Donald Trump confirmed that he will meet with Chinese president Xi Jinping in South Korea.
'We're going to be meeting in South Korea in a couple of weeks, and we'll see what we can do,' the president told reporters as he hosted Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at theWhite House on Monday.
The Dow jumped 500 points, the S&P 500 ripped higher by 1.2 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq revved up 1.52 percent.
Earlier, the president took a much cooler line toward China's leader. A negotiating tool? Or has the Middle Kingdom made some kind of overture? Trump has, in recent days, threatened China with another round of tariffs. Could this bring them to the table?
Trump earlier this month threatened not to meet with Xi at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit summit in Gyeongju, South Korea.
The president has threatened to impose a 100 percent additional tariff on November 1 if Beijing does not drops its export controls on rare earth metals, which are essential to America's production of cars, fighter jets and electronics.
Trump began to soften the position against Xi at the end of last week, stating that he saw 'no reason' why the pair should not meet.
Stocks ripped higher on the even more positive framing on Monday as the rollercoaster year for the market continued, with the major indexes now just inches away from the all time highs they reached at the start of October.
President Trump has shown an uncommon willingness to talk to foreign leaders, even meeting with North Korea's hereditary dictator Kim Jong Un during his first term.
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China is, of course, not only a key trading partner, but a key geopolitical rival. President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party have made no bones about their designs on the West Pacific, including squabbling with the Philippines (an American ally) over fishing grounds, and making more and more bellicose noises towards Taiwan and even Japan. President Trump has generally taken a hard line towards China since he resumed office, but this sudden willingness to meet face-to-face with President Xi may presage some kind of trade deal in the making.
Or, it could be another Alaska Summit.
President Trump has brought in a lot of trade deals in his second term, including one finalized only Monday with Australia. But China is still one of the biggest fish in the global economic pond, except for the United States, and we don't as yet have a trade deal with them. And, as it seems certain President Trump would agree, you can't make a deal without talking.
We'll see what happens next week.
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